Seahawks' Field Conditions

[J4Cards]

Boldin, and especially Rolle, had trouble with their footing yesterday. Is there something unusual about the playing field in Seattle? Should they have worn different shoes?

J4Cards

 

[Pariah]

It's field turf--an artificial surface, but not like the old astro tirf. It's sorta spongey, and it has rubber "gravel" in it to make it more forgiving (so it doesn't grab hold of a cleat and not let go)--That's the black cloud you see when guys drag their feet to make the catch in-bounds.

After Rolle's first slip I said he needed to get longer spikes.

There's nothing unusual about the surface. It looked to be dry. Maybe it was just the way Rolle plays (light on his feet?) that necessitates longer spikes?

 

[PortlandCardFan]

Shipp and Arrington slipped as well

 

[Toro]

Shaun Alexander didn't have any trouble.

 

[RedViper]

I've read that teams with field turf are able to manipulate the surface to their advantage by adding more or less of the rubber substance. Either the Cards are completely clueless on what shoes/spikes were needed for that surface or the Seahawks screwed around with it and turned it to their advantage. If its just the case, the Cardinals equipment guys just never even considered this surface issue and the proper shoes to address it and every other team in the league understands the deal and how to equip the team correctly, then someone on the Cards staff should be fired. If the Cardinals knew what to expect with the field turf and then encountered a condition they couldn't have expected (because Seattle f'd with it to their advantage) then the Cards need to scream bloody murder to the league.

With all those Cardinals falling all over the place yesterday, something was definitely not right. Whether that's a result of the Cards cluelessness or the Seahawks cheating, is the only thing that's up for debate in my mind.

 

[SeaChicken]

Ironically, the best shoes for that surface seem to be shoes basketball shoes. I've noticed that every time we're at home, our offensive line is wearing high top Nike basketball shoes that kind of remind me of the old school "Air Jordans".

I noticed that Rolle slipped a lot too and also saw Dansby lose his footing on one play. I also noted that it was a lot of the younger players that hadn't played on that field all that often.

 

[Pariah]

Guys, the Seahawks played on the very same surface. It is not an advantage for either team.

 

[MadCardDisease]

It did seem like there was a lot of junk getting knocked up during the plays. For a while I thought that they were playing on natual grass and then I remember it was field turf.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Guys, the Seahawks played on the very same surface. It is not an advantage for either team.

Yes they played on the same field. However he Seahawks have the advantage of playing there all the time. I think it can be an advantage. It's the Cardinals fault for not figuring out what the best shoes are to where on this turf.

 

[SeaChicken]

If the Cardinals knew what to expect with the field turf and then encountered a condition they couldn't have expected (because Seattle f'd with it to their advantage) then the Cards need to scream bloody murder to the league.

With all those Cardinals falling all over the place yesterday, something was definitely not right. Whether that's a result of the Cards cluelessness or the Seahawks cheating, is the only thing that's up for debate in my mind.

That's a pretty ridiculous suggestion. What would you suggest you would do to astro-turf to make it totally different than normal? Put oil on it? I suppose in your scenario the Seahawks practiced on an oiled down field to all get perfectly used to it and not slip at all.

That's about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard a fan of another team say. The Falcons had no problem with the field so you're basically implying that the Seahawks felt the need to cheat against the Cardinals but not the Falcons. Yeah. Okay.

 

[Pariah]

Yes they played on the same field. However he Seahawks have the advantage of playing there all the time. I think it can be an advantage. It's the Cardinals fault for not figuring out what the best shoes are to where on this turf.

Come on. It's field turf. It's not THAT different from stadiul to stadium or week to week. It's just not.

 

[SeaChicken]

It did seem like there was a lot of junk getting knocked up during the plays. For a while I thought that they were playing on natual grass and then I remember it was field turf.

That's the crushed up old tire material that is spread over the field. That material serves only one purpose - to cushion the field when a player falls. The grassy surface is so long that adding more or less of that material would not make a difference in footing.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Come on. It's field turf. It's not THAT different from stadiul to stadium or week to week. It's just not.

You mean to tell me that there is no difference to playing on field turf and playing on grass? I would think that there is a major difference. If you have the wrong kind of shoes it will affect your ability to plant.

 

[Pariah]

That material serves only one purpose - to cushion the field when a player falls. The grassy surface is so long that adding more or less of that material would not make a difference in footing.

Actually there's a pad under the turf for that. The rubber "gravel" is there presicely for the reason to make the surface less "grabby" and make it behave more like dirt (so that when you plant a foot it doesn't stick in one place when you put thousands of ppounds of tork on it--it slides over the gravel).

Doesn't matter though. It would be impossible to put so much of that stuff on the field to make it "slippery" enough to be an advantage. That's a laughable theory.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Doesn't matter though. It would be impossible to put so much of that stuff on the field to make it "slippery" enough to be an advantage. That's a laughable theory.

I agree with that.

 

[Pariah]

You mean to tell me that there is no difference to playing on field turf and playing on grass?

That's not what I said. The field turf is obviously different from grass (but not so much so that it's forgien to NFL players), it's just that field turf is field turf. The seahawks aren't going to manipulate it to their advantage.

 

[MadCardDisease]

it's just that field turf is field turf. The seahawks aren't going to manipulate it to their advantage.

I agree with that.

 

[SeaChicken]

Actually there's a pad under the turf for that. The rubber "gravel" is there presicely for the reason to make the surface less "grabby" and make it behave more like dirt (so that when you plant a foot it doesn't stick in one place when you put thousands of ppounds of tork on it--it slides over the gravel).

Doesn't matter though. It would be impossible to put so much of that stuff on the field to make it "slippery" enough to be an advantage. That's a laughable theory.

Actually Pariah, I thought the same thing you did until I went to the Los Angeles County Fair this weekend where they were pimpin' this stuff for people who are too lazy to take care of a lawn (California) or don't have the water supply to keep it green (Arizona). You're right, there is padding underneath but the primary purpose is to give it an even base. The rubber chips are there mostly for padding. My wife was interested in it so I had to suffer through a demo. These guys advertised themselves as the people that installed it in Qwest Field (Seattle) and also in St. Louis just this year... so be prepared to play on it again.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Pretty cool stuff!

http://www.fieldturf.com/product/overview.cfm

FieldTurf is dramatically different from traditional synthetic turf. The most striking difference is immediately obvious. Instead of a dense, abrasive rug, FieldTurf’s fiber surface is soft, silky - like new blades of grass in a spring meadow. Players can slide, tackle and tumble on FieldTurf’s unique blend of specially treated Polyethylene fibers without fear of abrasions. Rug burns are a thing of the past. The old hatred of “turf” - voiced so loudly by players, trainers, coaches, the media, even parents and doctors - simply vanishes, a distant memory from the rough “carpet age.”
But FieldTurf is much more than just the absence of abrasions. Unlike traditional turf, FieldTurf does not rely on an underlying shock pad for safety, resilience and player comfort. Rather, like its natural grass cousin, FieldTurf’s grass fibers are surrounded and stabilized by a special blend of “synthetic earth” - FieldTurf’s patented mixture of smooth, rounded silica sand, rubber granules, and NIKE GRIND made of re-ground athletic shoe material.

The rubber granules are a key component. Tire rubber is cryogenically frozen, shattered into smooth, clean, rounded particles, sized and shaped to stay “in suspension” with the sand, which is of a similar size, shape and weight. The sand and rubber are precision layered to guarantee uniformity, with an installation process that is also patented.

The result: A stable, resilient, uniform, shock-absorbing surface. FieldTurf is the original and only system emulating natural grass, ideal not only for athletes at the elite level but for everyday athletes.

Bio-Mechanical Properties for Safety and Performance

The design of the FieldTurf fabric is radically different. FieldTurf is the original wide gauge, tall pile fabric, and this design is also patented. The distance between the rows of fibers tufted into the backing is very wide, and related directly to the height of the pile fibers. The taller the pile, the wider the distance between the fibers. This patented formula means the special filling or “synthetic earth” that is layered into the pile fibers is carefully controlled in terms of weight, density and thickness. There are ten pounds of infill per square foot compared to less than half of that for any other infilled turf company in the industry. Why is this so important? The designers at FieldTurf discovered that the only way to truly emulate natural grass is to combine all these elements into an integrated system. The tall pile, wide gauge design, and increased infill mass allows cleated shoes to penetrate the fibers, plant into the special sand/rubber infill, twist easily and release (with minimal torsional resistance). This design accounts for the documented reduction in lower extremity injuries and significantly reduced neural injuries of players who compete on FieldTurf, even compared to natural grass!

 

[HawkManDan]

OK let me guess this straight.........

SOME people say the Seahawks cheated because of thier field turf, or we manipulated in some way to the Hawks advantage?
YOUR KIDDING ME RIGHT?? Out of all the cop outs and excuses this takes the cake. To say the Hawks cheated is absolutely hillarious! Please dont tell me card fans are so desperate for excuses that they woul actually say Hawks cheated. Did NY cheat also? Did STL? Has every team been cheating the passed 10 years? you gotta be kidding me!!!

 

[earthsci]

We know that the Seahawks didn't cheat. They kicked our butts. Every team is at an advantage on their home field. They know the quirks of the field.

 

[MadCardDisease]

OK let me guess this straight.........

SOME people say the Seahawks cheated because of thier field turf, or we manipulated in some way to the Hawks advantage?
YOUR KIDDING ME RIGHT?? Out of all the cop outs and excuses this takes the cake. To say the Hawks cheated is absolutely hillarious! Please dont tell me card fans are so desperate for excuses that they woul actually say Hawks cheated. Did NY cheat also? Did STL? Has every team been cheating the passed 10 years? you gotta be kidding me!!!

SOME People????

I see ONE person here mention that you can possibly manipulate the field and you blow it out of proportion.

This thread is about why the Cardinal players had trouble keeping thier footing.

 

[Wild Card]

With all those Cardinals falling all over the place yesterday, something was definitely not right. Whether that's a result of the Cards cluelessness or the Seahawks cheating, is the only thing that's up for debate in my mind.

RV:

Given that choice, I'll go with "the Cards cluelessness." The playing surface at Qwest Field (then, "Seahawks Stadium") was rated #3 in the entire league--and #1 among artificial surfaces--in a January 2002 NFLPA survey. And the Cardinals have played on that surface every season since the Seahawks joined the NFC West.

Be serious. What do you think the league would do if there were any evidence of tampering with field conditions by the home team? And if they were going to do such a thing, why would any self-respecting organization run the risk of league sanctions or penalties just to handicap the Cardinals?

Whatta joke.

WC

 

[RedViper]

I read in an article a few years back when someone was getting field turf, there were ways to manipulate it to one's advantage.

Do I believe a team would cheat. Hell yes. You are talking millions upon millions of dollars. You are looking at two coaches with entire staffs, either of whom could be out on their arse at the end of the season. Their reputation will be absolutely demolished. One of the teams owners comes from a corporation that has literally dominated the globe economically. And they did it through cheating. You've got an industry where cheating is just fair game until the league steps in and does something about it. From stick em, to using vaseline on the jerseys to steriods. Its all just par for the course until it gets shut down.

I threw up two possibilities. One is just pure Cardinals cluelessness. We saw a game with a similar result it O2 on field turf where a QB with a severely fractured ankle was able to shred the Cardinals. Probably it was just our ridiculously inept staff without the slightest friggen clue how to attire its multi-million dollar athletes. But it could have been cheating then too. Its something.

 

[conraddobler]

I read in an article a few years back when someone was getting field turf, there were ways to manipulate it to one's advantage.

Do I believe a team would cheat. Hell yes. You are talking millions upon millions of dollars. You are looking at two coaches with entire staffs, either of whom could be out on their arse at the end of the season. Their reputation will be absolutely demolished. One of the teams owners comes from a corporation that has literally dominated the globe economically. And they did it through cheating. You've got an industry where cheating is just fair game until the league steps in and does something about it. From stick em, to using vaseline on the jerseys to steriods. Its all just par for the course until it gets shut down.

I threw up two possibilities. One is just pure Cardinals cluelessness. We saw a game with a similar result it O2 on field turf where a QB with a severely fractured ankle was able to shred the Cardinals. Probably it was just our ridiculously inept staff without the slightest friggen clue how to attire its multi-million dollar athletes. But it could have been cheating then too. Its something.

My money is on inept equipment preparation.

I don't think anyone should make fun of suggesting that the Seahawks would manipulate the field in ways to at least make it more difficult for opposing teams to guess what to use.

What I'd suggest is that the Seahawks used the max legal variance they could get in the turf and dared our equipment manager to figure it out.

It's pretty plausible that they'd make that bet and it's sadly plausible that we'd fail to adjust for it.